With a very young squad in tow, Jasper baseball coach Steve Smith knows this will be a season of rebuilding for the baseball program.

"The kids are working hard but we have a bunch of young kids," Smith said. "We have four or five freshmen that might be playing at any given time."

Presently, the Bulldogs stand at 2-3 overall and are working through growing pains. Smith noted that overall numbers in the baseball program are down this year and for the first time in recent years; Jasper is not fielding a sophomore squad.

"We usually have a varsity, junior varsity and sophomore team but this is just the way it cycles sometimes," Smith said. "There are just not too many kids out right now but the kids we have playing are playing hard."

Smith said the junior varsity squad right now has a 4-0 record.

"The kids have to grow up pretty quick," Smith said. "We have 15-year-old kids who have to go up against 17 and 18-year old kids and they are getting after it the best they can."

Of the 13-player roster, Smith fields five freshmen, three seniors and the rest being made up of sophomores and juniors.

"The freshmen kids that we have on the team have played a lot of baseball," Smith said. "By the time they are juniors and the numbers that we have behind them, Jasper will be in for another six or seven year run again after this year."

Smith said he will relying on seniors Jake Dufner and Brandon Peterson to anchor the team this year.

"Both of those guys are the rock of our team," Smith said. "Jake has had a good year pitching and when he has pitched, the team hasn't scored many runs against him. Brandon is hitting the ball well and is playing shortstop for us."

Senior Connor Marx is also playing a big role for the team this year while playing first base for the Bulldogs.

"He plays first base for us and anchors it down pretty good and right is leading the team in hitting," Smith said.

"We have to get some freshmen to step up for us this year," Smith said. "There is nothing left in the pool. It is just going to be a young team in a growing year. They have to grow up pretty quick."

Jasper opened up District 20-3A play last night against Diboll on the road.

The baseball program has had to endure a season of transition with the retirement of long-time coach Shawn Mixon and the sudden reassignment of Kelly Dickerson, who was hired from Huntington to replace Mixon. Dickerson was reassigned within the district and was replaced by Smith, who was coaxed out of retirement himself to take over the reins of the program.

"Our transition has been real smooth because I worked with Shawn for years," Smith said. "We are basically doing the same thing that we did for the last 20 years. We are not changing a whole lot.

"I've been doing it so long that I love it," Smith said. "I love the game of baseball and Coach (Darrell) Barbay asked if I could fill in this year and I thought about it a couple of days and decided to do it. While I do this, they are continuing to look for a new coach and I haven't made a decision on whether I will be back next year and will not make that decision until the end of the year."

Smith has coached at Jasper High School for 20 years and coached some form of baseball for 34 years so last year when Mixon announced he was leaving; Smith believed it was a good time for him to call it quits as well.

"I have grandkids growing up and starting to play soccer, baseball and gymnastics and I thought it would be time to start watching those little rascals," Smith said.

When it comes to District 20-3A, Smith knows this district is probably one of the toughest in the state with powerhouses like Carthage, Hudson, Central and Diboll also in the district.

"You can ask anybody in Texas, this southeast region is probably the toughest in the state," Smith said. "Usually you have someone from this district in Austin every year. I see us being there at the end hopefully playing for a playoff spot and have a chance to knock someone out of the playoffs.

"We still have hopes for the playoffs," Smith said. "Our biggest challenge will be dealing with our youth and see how they handle the pressure of this district. We have talent but when you have to play against teams with six seniors, it is a pressure cooker. This is fun. When you get a young team, they are hungry and love to play the game and they are happy to be on the varsity team. It's fun to coach a young team."